This one is one of the many things leftover in space from the Cold War which dominated the second-half of the 20th Century. With the US fearing that they were falling behind the Soviet Union in the communications stake, the American military sent 480million minuscule copper needles into space in May 1963 in order to create an artificial ionosphere. "Project West Ford", as it was named, was intended to be a prototype for two more permanent copper-needle rings that would be launched in the future in order to ensure the US would always be able to use space as a means of communicating around the globe. Incredibly, the doughnut-shaped cloud orbiting earth at 2,300miles in the air was 20miles thick and 10miles wide - and some of the needles remain there to this day.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.